Helmut Dudek (14 December 1957 – 22 May 1994) was a Polish-German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender who won the

1978–79 UEFA Cup The 1978–79 UEFA Cup was the eighth season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at the Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and at the Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, W ...

with Borussia Mönchengladbach. He also played eight seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1978, Dudek, native of Poland who later became a West German citizen, signed with

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

and was a member of the team as it won the

. He played a total of six games for Borussia before moving to the United States in 1980. That summer, he signed with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The next year, he joined the

Memphis Americans The Memphis Americans were a soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1981 to 1984. Their home arena was the Mid-South Coliseum. A new version of the team played in 2021 at ...

and played three seasons with the team in Memphis and another after the team moved west to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, where they became the

Las Vegas Americans The Las Vegas Americans were a soccer team based out of Las Vegas that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League. Prior to Las Vegas, the team had operated as the Memphis Americans. They only played in Las Vegas during the 1984–85 seaso ...

. In 1982, he was a First Team All Star. The Americans folded at the end of the 1984–85 season and the

Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh Spirit was an indoor soccer team based in Pittsburgh and one of the original six teams that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). The Spirit was founded in 1978, suspended operation for the 1980–81 season, then returned ...

hired

Don Popovic Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Guj ...

, the American head coach. Popovic brought Dudek, and several other players, to the Spirit as free agents. Dudek spent he 1985–86 season in Pittsburgh. The team folded at the end of the season and Dudek signed with the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...

on 18 September 1986. After one season, the Strikers sent Dudek to the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 c ...

for future considerations. He spent one season in Baltimore, then left the league to return to Germany. He died on 22 May 1994 of cancer.

Honors

* MISL All-Star Team: 1982

References

External links

MISL stats

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudek, Helmut 1957 births 1994 deaths Polish emigrants to Germany Footballers from Bytom German men's footballers Bundesliga players Polish men's footballers Men's association football defenders UEFA Europa League–winning players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Wichita Wings players Memphis Americans players Las Vegas Americans players Pittsburgh Spirit players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 20th-century Polish sportsmen 20th-century German sportsmen